Gigi Riva's son, in his heartbreaking speech during the funeral, also clarified how things went on the day Rombo di Tuono left: the words of Nicola Riva

“A hombre vertical until the end, he left as he wanted”: the heartbreaking words of Gigi Riva's son during the funeral

An immense and moved crowd witnessed the last farewell to the great man yesterday in the Basilica Bonaria of Cagliari. Gigi Riva. One of the most touching moments was undoubtedly that of the speech given by Nicola, son of 'Rombo di Tuono'. The man called his father a “hombre vertical”, which no one could convince. Even the other day, Nicola added, he chose what to do with the operation that had been proposed to him.

If the exploits on the pitch in a glorious career between Cagliari and the Italian national team were not enough to demonstrate the greatness, the immensity of Gigi Riva, just look at the hug which he received in recent days. From Sunday, when he had his first illness, to Monday, when he passed away forever, to yesterday, when Cagliari, Sardinia and the whole of Italy reserved him their final farewell.

A gigantic crowd of thousands of people respectfully stormed first the Cagliari stadium, which will soon be named after him, where his funeral home had been set up, and then the Basilica of BonariaWhere Archbishop Giuseppe Baturi celebrated Thunderclap's funeral.

The words of Gigi Riva's son

The list is very long famous people presentflew to Sardinia just to say goodbye for the last time to the strongest center forward in Italian history.

There were several touching moments, among which the most touching was undoubtedly the one in which he spoke Nicholasone of his sons:

I want to extend my biggest thanks to all those who remained in the queue in front of the funeral home, in the cold, even until 11 at night. My brother and I tried to shake hands with everyone we could. They told us: he was a great man, not a great footballer. I almost felt like offering my condolences to them.

Then Nicola explained that his dad left as he wanted. Because he was a 'hombre vertical' and it was until the end: “Even the other day, he decided what he wanted to do“.

The reference is to choice of the former champion of do not undergo angioplasty surgery which had been proposed to him by the doctors and which probably could have saved his life.